Nuthin' But A Number
by Cross Rabbit
Summary: What happens when Tails turns Cream into a teenager? New emotions will rise, and other fun stuff. Please R&R.
1. The Game

Hello, all! This is my first fanfic, which I would have posted earlier, but there's a 3 frickin' day wait. Anyway, like I said, this is my first fanfic, so be nice. No flames, but if you have some constructive criticism that you want to give, I'm all ears (perks ears up). Well, anyway, I hope you like it. The rest will be updated as soon as I get a few reviews. Let me know you like it, and I might finish it D. This story will be co-written by Cam3leon in later chapters.

Disclaimer: We own nothing. Sega owns all the characters, and this is for the whole fanfic, so you can't sue P.

**Nothin' But A Number**

**Chapter 1**

**The Game**

DING DONG!

"I'll get it!" yelled Tails as he flew to the door. He was anxious for his test subject to arrive. He flung the door open. "Oh," he stated flatly, "it's just you, Charmy."

"Well 'hi' to you too, Tails," Charmy remarked sarcastically as he hovered in. Tails closed the door behind him.

"I didn't mean it like that. I thought you were someone else."

"Who were you expecting?"

"Cream."

"Why!"

"I have an experiment to test and Sonic and Knuckles won't have anything to do with it. So, Cream being Cream and all, I invited her over for a 'play date'."

"Wow. Clever. But don't you think that's kinda mean? Not to mention dangerous."

"Well, that's what tests are for." Charmy sighed. He realized that there was no discouraging a determined mad scientist.

"What is it, anyway?"

"I thought you would never ask! Follow me," Tails said with a new found enthusiasm. He led Charmy down the steps to the basement, A.K.A Tails' lab. They stopped in front of a huge machine. It was tall and square-shaped with a door that let down like a drawbridge. It basically looked like a big oven.

"You're gonna cook her!" Charmy yelled, suddenly scared for Cream's life.

"What? Of course NOT!" Tails said as he powered up the machine. "This machine is age defying."

"It's what?"

Tails sighed. "It makes you older or younger."

"Oh. Ok, sounds cool." Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Hey, Tails!" Sonic's voice could be heard, calling to his friend. "Cream's here!"

"Ok! We're in my lab. Send her down." Seconds later, Cream's cream and orange figure could be seen descending the steps to Tails' workshop.

"Hi Tails!" Cream piped cheerfully as she came upon Tails and Charmy.

"Hi. Hey, I have a cool idea; for our play date, let's play a game!"

"YEAH, a game! I love games."

"Can I 'play'?" Charmy asked.

"Sure," Tails said, "I need a witness," He whispered to Charmy. "If this works, I'll be famous."

"How do you play?" Cream asked, more than ready to begin.

"Well, it's simple. The person who's it has to stand in the machine. The first one who says 'Not it' has to watch."

"Not it!" Charmy called.

"Ok, the second has to push all the buttons. Not it! Ok, so that leaves you, Cream. You're it. You have to get in the machine and follow all my instructions."

Cream sighed. Usually being "it" was a bad thing in most games. "Ok." She got into the huge machine. "Like this?"

"Yeah. You see those handle-bars? Grab 'em. And hold on tight!"

"Ok. Now what?"

"Put your feet through those two little handles down there. Done?"

"Yes. How do I win?"

"Don't cry."

"What, I don't cry."

"I hope you don't." With that, Tails shut the door to the machine. "Let's cross our fingers." Tails said tossing Charmy a pair of goggles. "Put 'em on." Charmy obeyed. "Cream, you may feel a sliiiiiiiiight pinch." Tails pushed a few buttons, turned a few knobs and set the dial to 14. "If this works, when Cream comes out of there, she'll be a 14-year-old."

"Cool!" Charmy said. "Let her rip!" Tails threw the switch to initiate the start of the machine. It hummed and beeped as it powered up. Then a flash of light came from within the machine.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cream screamed.

"HANG ON, CREAM! What ever you do, don't cry!" Tails yelled. After about a minute, the light dimmed, and the machine powered down.

"Is she ok?" Charmy asked.

"I don't know. I sure hope so." With that he lowered the door and smoke filled the room. The three of them began to cough. "Cream... are y-you ok?" Tails said between fits of coughing.

"I'll tell you when I can breath," came a voice, but it was unfamiliar to both Tails and Charmy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, how'd you like it? Review and I'll post chapter 2.- CR


	2. Uuuuhhhhhhh

**Aww, I feel so loved! Thank you to my 3wonderful reviewers. And to Prominence Flare, don't worry. I think you might just get your wish. Anyway, read and review, my lovlies. Oh, and to my cuz, Cam3leon, thanks for the advertisement. If you haven't already, check out his fic, A Heros' Shadow.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2**

**Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhh...**

The smoke slowly began to clear, and the fox and bee tried to make out the figure that had spoken to them. What they saw shocked and almost scared them. Standing in front of them was an orange and yellow rabbit with long ears, and orange bangs that hung down to her eyes. She wore the same outfit as Cream, but since she was much taller and much more...developed than Cream, the dress was shorter and was a little tight in places.

"Uuuuhhhh..." was the only response both Tails and Charmy could give.

"What are you guys staring at? And why are you so short? And why do I sound funny?"

"That's _Cream_!" Charmy alleged.

"I think so..." Tails replied as he reached for a device on his table.

"What are you guys whispering about?" Cream said. "And why do I feel a draft?" Cream then looked down at her legs and realized that her dress had shrunken. "Tails, you shrunk my dress!" But Tails was too busy running circles around Cream waving the small device over her. It beeped a few times and the number "14" registered on the screen.

"It _is_ Cream!" He shouted when he was done.

"Well no duh it's me! Look at what you did to my dress."

"Wow," Charmy said. "She's HOT!"

"I know!" Tails said.

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT!" Cream yelled, tired of waiting for an answer.

"Um, Cream, I, um, well... I-you're kinda... a, um... teenager." Tails finally said.

"Excuse me?" Cream said.

"You're now 14-years-old."

"You're kidding. It can't be!" Cream rushed to a mirror. "But it IS! I'm 14!"

"And fully-formed," Tails added.

"What was that?" Cream said turning to face Tails.

"Oh, nothing. How do you like it?"

"So far so good. I might not have to kill you after all." Cream said turning around in the mirror to admire her new body.

"Wow, Cream. You're pretty!" Charmy said.

"Thanks. I gotta go show Amy and Big. Thanks Tails." And with that Cream kissed Tails on the cheek, and ran up the stairs and towards the door. Before she could reach the door though, she ran into Sonic, literally.

"Oh, sorry." She said.

"That's ok. Have we met? You look familiar. But in case we haven't, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. You know, The Fastest Thing on Two Feet? And what's your name, gorgeous?"

"Mr. Sonic, are you hitting on me?" Cream raised an eyebrow.

"Mr.? What's with the formalities babe? Just call me Sonic."

"Mr. Sonic? It's me, Cream!"

"CREAM! Dag, what hit you? Puberty?"

"In a way. Ask Tails. I gotta go!" She said running towards the door. When she opened it, Knuckles was standing there. "Hi Mr. Knuckles! Bye Mr. Knuckles!" She ran past him and out of the house.

"Who was that?"

"Believe it or not, it was Cream," Sonic said.

"What! You're lying?"

"Nope."

Cream walked outside and did not get ten steps away from their house when she was mobbed be a bunch of boys. All of them either wanted her number or wanted to take her out on a date. She could swear one of them even grabbed her tail. She couldn't take it anymore so she turned tail and ran back to Team Sonic's house. As soon as she got in she slammed the door and locked it.

"What happened?" Tails said.

"I was mobbed."

"By who?"

"A bunch of boys. One of 'em even grabbed my tail. I don't want to go back out there."

"Well don't you worry, Cream. We'll be your bodyguards and take you home." Sonic said. In a flash he and Tails ran out of the room and came back clad in complete Men in Black suits and shades. "I knew this would come in handy," he said as he adjusted his shades.

"C'mon. We can take the Tornado." All three of them went to Tails' garage and climbed into the plane. Tails took of and the flight went smoothly. Then Cream asked a question.

"Hey, do you think we can stop at the mall on the way back to my house?" She asked over the rushing wind. "These clothes are a bit too...confining, if ya know what I mean."

"Sure." Tails said as he began to take the plane down.

* * *

So, did you like? Let's shoot for about 3 or 4 reviews, then I'll update. Much love!


	3. It's Me!

**Thank you all of my reviewers! And to littlestar22, thanks for the crazy review. Those were some of my faveorite parts to. I think you'll like this chapter also.

* * *

**

**Chapter 3**

**It's Me!**

"What about this one?" Cream said as she came out of the changing room for what seemed like the millionth time to show off yet another outfit.

"I don't think so!" Sonic said when he saw it. This one was a miniskirt and a short tank-top.

"What?" Cream asked turning around.

"Let's start with too much fur," Sonic started. By his tone, it didn't sound like he was going to stop anytime soon.

"Ok, ok, Sonic," Cream said, turning to go back into the stall. "Geez, you're worse than a dad." Two minutes later Cream came out in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that said "Cutie Bunny". Sonic was about to say something about how the jeans looked too tight, but Tails beat him.

"That's fine, Cream. Let's go." So the three of them headed back out to the parking lot, where Tails had parked the Tornado.

"Hey, Tails, I think you got a ticket," Cream said, handing Tails the piece of paper.

"WHAT! Fifty dollars? Man..." he groaned as he read the paper.

"Don't worry, Tails," Cream said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, maybe Amy'll let me borrow some money. I do kinda feel like this is my fault."

"Well, ok. Let's just get you home first." They all got into the plane again and headed for Team Rose's house. They landed in about 10 minutes and Cream hopped out of the plane. She ran to the door and began to attack the door bell.

"Ok, OK!" She could hear Amy yell from inside. "Who is it?"

"It's Cream! I left my key."

"Cream?" Amy stated as she cracked the door. "Why do you sound so funny?" Tails and Sonic had arrived and were now standing behind Cream. Amy opened the door and gasped. "CREAM! What happened to you?"

"You like it?" Cream asked as she turned around showing off every curve of her new body. "Tails did it. Isn't it cool?"

"Umm..." Amy said. Then she lunged at Tails. Tails squeaked it surprise at the sudden show of rage. Amy grabbed him by the white tuft of fur on his chest, and began to hoist him from the ground. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!" She yelled.

"Calm down!" Tails said. "It's just an experiment. Creams 14, but she's still Cream. It's only an experiment!"

"Amy put him down! He's telling the truth. It's me!" Amy took one last look at Cream , and began to let Tails descend to the ground. Cream and Tails breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, is this permanent?" Amy finally said.

"It depends. If she has any negative reaction to the transformation, then I'll terminate it. But if she doesn't then I'm next."

"Well, I guess its ok. I mean, you do like it, don't you Cream?" Cream only nodded in response. Then Amy noticed Sonic. She ran to him and jumped in his arms. Sonic's first impulse was to drop her, but he didn't want to hurt her. She kissed his nose. "Hi Sonic!" she said cheerfully.

"Hi Amy," Sonic replied, flatly. He then let her down.

"What's with the outfit?"

"Oh, we're Cream's bodyguards."

"Why would she need bodyguards?"

"Cause I got mobbed on the way home."

"By who!"

"A bunch of boys. So Tails and Sonic offered to bring me home. Oh, that reminds me! Amy, can I borrow fifty dollars?"

"Fifty? Why so much?"

"Tails got a parking ticket, and I feel kinda responsible. He got it at the mall, and wouldn't have if I hadn't asked him to take me. So can I borrow fifty dollars to pay him. I'll pay you back A.S.A.P."

"Ok. Come on in, and I'll go get my wallet." Amy went into her room to get her purse, and Cheese came out see Cream.

"Hi, Cheese!" Cream said opening her arms so Cheese could fly to her. But Cheese turned in the other direction and flew to Amy. "Cheese, I..."

"I don't think Cheese recognizes you," Tails said.

"Cheese, it's me, Cream. Don't you remember? I may look different, but it's still me. I'm just...older, that's all." Cheese continued to cower in the room with Amy. Cream lowered her head as her ears fell limp. She didn't think _this_ would happen. Cheese's wings could be heard beating as it hovered across the room. It rested on the floor in front of Cream. It looked up into Cream's big brown eyes, as she looked sadly down on it.

"Chao!" Cheese flew up into Creams face and she immediately perked up.

"Cheese! I knew you would remember." The two hugged each other as Amy came and handed Tails a bunch of bills. He counted it out to be fifty dollars.

"Thanks, Amy."

"Yeah, you owe me, Cream." Then Big walked out of the kitchen.

"Anyone want cookies?" He said as he held up a big tray of freshly baked cookies.

"I do!" Everyone yelled as they mobbed Big. After everyone finished the cookies they said thanks, and Big blushed.

"No problem." He said. "Hey, who's the rabbit?"

"It's me, Big, Cream!"

"You're not Cream. Cream smaller than you."

"Tails made me older. How do I look?" She spun around for Big.

"Pretty," Big said.

"Gorgeous..." Tails whispered to himself.

"What was the, Big Guy?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, nothing! Hey, Cream, do you mind if I stay over tonight? I need to keep an eye on you in case you show any change in any way."

"Um, sure. I guess so. Can he Amy?"

Amy sighed. "I guess, but he sleeps in YOUR room."

"Mine? Why can't he sleep on the couch?"

"The couch is being sprayed. I saw a roach in there a couple of days ago. So I dumped a bottle of bug spray on it. It still isn't dry."

"Amy!" Cream yelled.

"What! It scared me."

Cream sighed. "Ok. He can sleep in my room."

"Don't worry," Tails said. "I'll sleep on the floor and I won't disturb you or Cheese. I promise."

"Alright."

"Hey, Big Guy, I gotta go." Sonic said. "You have fun. I'll come get you tomorrow."

"Ok Sonic."

"Thanks again, Mr. Sonic." Cream said. Sonic left and Amy closed the door. After a few hours of T.V. and after dinner, it was going on 11 o'clock, so everyone decided to head to bed. Cream got Tails some blankets and a pillow, and he made himself a pallet on the floor beside Cream's bed. "You sure you're gonna be ok on the floor?" Cream asked as she fished around her drawers for a night-gown.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Tails replied. "How do you feel?"

"Hmm? Oh, I feel great. I just have to get used to this. All my clothes are smaller." Cream held the gown to her body.

"Dag. Well, its just me. I won't look if you don't want me to."

"Thanks. Hey, can you kinda...turn around? I need to change."

"Oh! Sorry. I'll leave. Just tell me when you're done."

"Thanks Tails." Cream undressed and was about to put on her night-gown, when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. "Wow. Even naked I'm hot." She began to dance and spin in front of her mirror. Mean while, outside of her window, 3 villains we all know and love, positioned themselves to do their job.

"OUCH! Shadow get your shoe out of my nose!"

"Sorry, Rouge. Now be quiet."

"Target acquired," Omega droned from on top of the two.

"Good. Now do you see the chao?" Shadow said.

"Miscalculation."

"What are you talking about? We're looking for the little rabbit and the chao."

"I see a rabbit, but she is definitely not little."

"Display holographic image." Omega hummed a bit, and a picture flashed in front of Shadow's face. "WHOA! She grew up!"

"Way up!" Rouge said looking at the image.

"Dag. Is it her?"

"It has to be. We don't know of any other rabbit that lives here." Rouge explained as a drop of water hit her head. "Great. All we need is for it to rain." Then water hit her in the same place. She looked up to investigate and found that it was not water, but Shadow drooling over the dancing Cream. "Shadow you pervert! Stop. We have a job to do. This is no time to let your artificial hormones take over!"

"What? Oh, sorry. Ok. Let's wait til she's asleep and then we'll strike.

* * *

Did you like it? I await more feedback. Let's try 4, then update.


	4. KiderChaonapped

**Thank you all sooooo much! I got like 6 reviews for my last chapter. You all make me feel so loved. **

**_Angels624: I have nothing against Sonamy stoylines, but this is about Cream and Tails. I'll try to get a Sonamy one up as soon as possible._**

**_littlestar22: You are just the sweetest thing! Thank you. Your reviews always make me feel so loved. I promise to read and review some of your stories._**

**_Pink Emerald816: Thanks for the advice. I'll try do do that._**

**_Shadow Stalkr: Thanks for all of the advice. I'll try my best, but I make no promises._**

**_Prominence Flare: Thank you. I will._**

**_arsth: Thanks for the kind words._**

**_And to the others that I may have missed, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I hope all of my reveiwers will be back.

* * *

_**

**Chapter 4**

**Kid...er...Chaonapped**

"Is she asleep?" came a husky whisper. "Good." It was Shadow. He and the other members of Team Dark were still outside Cream's window. "Ok. I'll go first, since I'm the stealthiest." He said sliding the window open.

"Negative," Omega objected. "I am the most powerful. I should go just in case they wake up; I can put them back to sleep." He flexed a gun that sprayed a sleeping solution."

"Didn't your creators ever teach you guys any manners?" Rouge said. "Ladies first." The three of them were arguing so much, that they forgot the window was open. Cream stirred, and upon hearing the rustling of the bed, the three stopped their arguing and stood motionless. She got out of bed, careful not to step on Tails, and went to the window. Her eyes were still fogged with sleep, so she didn't notice the three outside her window. She then closed the window, locked, and stumbled back to bed.

"Well, now what do we do?" Shadow asked.

"I shall break it open," Omega droned, drawing back a fist.

"NO!" Shadow grabbed the offending fist. "If you do that, you'll wake both of them."

"Stand back, boys. Let the mistress handle this," Rouge said as she hovered above the two of them. She then pulled a fingernail-file out of her boot.

Rouge began to poke and prod the window as Shadow and Omega exchanged confused looks (despite the fact that Omega can not show emotion). Finally, Rouge stopped her poking and replaced the file in her boot. She then slid the window open gently, and gracefully flew inside. Once inside she stuck her hand back out of the window. "Now, you boys play nice until I come back with the chao. If I need any help, I'll call you over the com-link." And with that, she was gone, leaving Shadow and Omega standing outside the window looking dumb.

Inside, Rouge slipped along the cream-colored walls gracefully, careful not to wake the sleeping rabbit and fox. She walked, until she came to a door. When she opened it, she found it to be a walk-in closet. In the center of the closet, sleeping like a baby was Cheese on a pillow.

"I found it," she whispered into the link.

"Great." Shadow's voice came through the link. "Now bring it here."

"Can do." Rouge inched closer to Cheese, stepping lightly as not to wake it. She was only an inch away when Cheese popped its head up. "Dang."

"Chao!" Cheese piped cheerfully.

"Shhh!" Rouge hissed putting a finger to her lip. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a "chao treat". "You want the treat?" She asked as she waved it in front of Cheese. It lunged at it. "Ah, ah, ah!" She snatched it away just in time. "First, you have to be really quiet, ok?"

Cheese nodded.

"Good." She gave Cheese the threat, and it ate it all. Soon, its eyes began to droop, and it began to sway. Within about 3 more seconds, it was asleep again.

"Rouge, what's going on?" Shadow asked.

"I'm on my way out with the chao."

"Good job. Hurry so we can get this thing home. We'll take it to Robotnik in the morning."

Rouge then flew out of the window and allowed Shadow to grab her ankles. Once he was situated, Omega grabbed his, and they were off.

* * *

So, how did you like it? I know it was shorter than my previous chapters, but I promise to make the next one longer. Let me know what you think. And don't be mad if I don't update for a while. There are a series of freak thunderstorms in Alabama, and our powerhas beengoing out. Thanks again for reading. Please review me.


	5. Discoveries and Undiscovered Secrets

_**A/N Please Read: **Hello all! Once again, it is I, Cross Rabbit. Back to bring you another chapter. I'm sorry it took so long. Remember those freak thunderstorms? They came back. And in full force. I havn't been able to get on the computer for a couple of days to work. Well any way, I have an issue to address. Someone gave me a review and it made me think that I should state something. **THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: **When Cream was turned into a teenager, she was turned into one inside **and **out. This means that when her body matured, puberty basically hit her all at once. Her emotions matured and hormone levels went up. So, if anyone was confuesed, I hope I cleared things up. Anyway, please R&R, all my wonderful reviewers! hugs everyone who has reviewed so far More hugs will be given! Oh, and to anyone who reviews my cousin Cam3leon's fics, you get a cookie! They're called "A Hero's Shadow", and"The Orientation". The second chapter of "The Oreientation" is co-written by ME! So please review him also. THANKS!

* * *

_

**Chapter 5**

**Discoveries and Undiscovered Things**

Cream awoke from a dreamless sleep, very content. She sat up and stretched. Looking out of the window, she saw that it was about 11:30. She was slightly surprised because she didn't usually wake up this late.

'_Oh, well_,' she thought and shrugged it off.

She then swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat her feet on the floor. She stood up and rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes. As she began to inch toward the bathroom, she felt something soft under her bare feet. She looked down to see that she was standing on something orange and white. She gasped as the events from the previous day flooded back to her memory, and she ran to the mirror. Quite relieved to see that she was still in her teenage body, she went over to the still sleeping Tails.

'_He's kinda cute when he's asleep,' _she found herself thinking as she watched the patch of white fur on his chest rise and fall._ 'What am saying! This is Tails you're talking about.' _She shook her head as if to clear the thought from her mind, and went next door, to Amy's room. She peaked inside, but didn't see anyone. Amy was apparently already downstairs.

'_She won't mind if I borrow some clothes,' _she thought as she slipped inside. She walked lightly to the closet and opened it. There she found many, many of Amy's usual red rubber dresses. '_Is this the only thing she wears?' _Cream pushed aside all the dresses and found what looked like a red and red-orange Velour suit (pants and a tee-shirt). She grabbed it and closed the closet. '_Perfect_.' Was her only thought as she left the room.

When she got back to her room, she was surprised to see that Tails was no longer on the floor. She then heard the toilet flush in her bathroom. A few seconds later a very shaggy looking Tails came stumbling out.

"Morning, Sunshine," Cream said.

"Meh-nrot frfg nya," was his reply as he lay back on the floor. Cream guessed that he was not exactly a morning person.

All of a sudden, something snapped in Tails, and he shot up, a shocked look on his face. "It worked?" He then got up and walked, well, ran, to Cream. "IT WORKED! I'M A GENIUS!"

"Calm down," Cream said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't believe it. It really worked..." his voice trailed off as his speech became fast and blurred. Cream quit trying to decipher his mumbling and went into the bathroom. She took her shower and got dressed. When she came out, Tails was gone. She guessed he had gone home to tell Sonic and Knuckles, and went downstairs.

"Hi, Amy! Hi, Big!" she greeted cheerfully.

"Mornin' sleepy head," Amy said from the couch.

"Good morning, Cream," Big said from the kitchen.

"Something smells good."

"I'm making omelets. Want one?"

"You know it," Cream nearly growled as she tied a napkin around her neck, picked up a fork and knife, and sat in a routine "feed me!" pose. She remembered that she hadn't eaten much in the couple of days. I mean, she had eaten, but not that much.

"Hey, where's Cheese?" Amy asked walking into the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.

"I thought he (don't gripe at me about Cheese's gender) came downstairs awhile ago. He must not be up yet. I'll go check on him after breakfast." With that, Big sat a huge, beautiful egg and cheese and God only knows what else omelet in front of Cream.

She looked up at him with the most beautiful eyes she could muster. "I love you," were the last words heard form Cream before she engrossed herself in the omelet. Once she had that first bite, she realized that she was hungrier than she had thought. Cream's appetite had apparently increased with her body change. Oh, well. She didn't care. It just meant twice as much of Big's delicious cooking.

After breakfast, Cream excused herself from the table and proceeded upstairs to check on cheese. She went into her room and saw that Tails' mat was still on the floor.

'_Oh well. I'll just pick it up after I check on Cheese.'_

So she proceeded on to the walk-in closet, where Cheese more-often-than-not slept. She opened the door and flipped the light switch that hung to the right of the entrance way. In the center of the closet, lay Cheese, or so she thought.

"Cheese?" she whispered as she tip-toed closer to the little chao on its pillow. "Are you awake?"

Upon her coming within an inch of the pillow, a very, very, very low whirring sound started. Cream did not catch the sound because it was so close to a whisper. Cream was relieved to see Cheese fly into the air to meet her. She let out a small sigh of relief and petted Cheese on the head.

"Oh, Cheese, you're a little cold. Maybe you should lie back down for a while," she said, a bit of concern evident in her voice.

Cheese only responded by drowning out a "Chao!"

"Ok. You lie down and I'll be back to check on you later."

Yet another "Chao!"

"All right." Cream then stood up from her kneeling position and began to make her way toward the door. When she was about a foot away, the whirring stopped, and Cheese fell back to the pillow.

'_Poor thing. He must be exhausted,'_ She thought as she turned out the light. She then made her way from the closet and closed the door gently.

* * *

_YAY! You finished! For anyone who is a little confused, Let me tell you: Sometime between giving Cheese the treat, and Cheese falling asleep, Rouge replaced it with an artificial chao robot. Kind of like Omochao, except this one was made to look like a neutral chao. Team Dark just put a bow-tie on it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please leave your reviews. _


	6. Help

Hello all! Thanks for all of the reviews I've gotten so far. I've yet to hear from littlestar22 as of 8-5-05. I hope to hear from you. Prominence Flare also. I don't want to discourage anyone from reviewing, but these two are loyal reviewers.

Now down to business: I'm having the worst case of writers block and I need suggestions. Can anyone tell me how to get over writers block? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I'm going to post a few poems and would like suggestions. I'm open to pretty much any couple. Again your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Cross Rabbit


	7. The Undiscovered is Discovered

_**Yay! The evil writers block is GONE! But now, its cousin, Homework, has taken over. Yeah. I started school on August 8th. Don't worry, I'll still update. This story is in no way discontinued. I love it too much. Anyway, thanks for all of the tips. All of them helped. Please R&R all of my lovely reviewers! Let me know you like it, and I'll update.**_

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 6**

**The Undiscovered is Discovered**

"Cheese?" Cream whispered as she entered the closet again. It had been 2 hours since her last visit, and she was here to check up on him. Since then, she had gotten hot and had changed her attire to red shorts, a white tank-top, and a red ribbon holding her ears in sort of a ponytail.

She crept gingerly into the closet and flicked on the light switch. Again, as she stepped within an inch of the robo-chao, the whispered whirring began. Cream was startled as she saw the chao shoot up from the pillow.

Cream gasped. "Cheese! You scared me. How are you?"

Just a monotone "Chao!" was the reply.

"You feel any better?"

"Chao!"

Cream began to get suspicious. All Cheese had said all day was "Chao!" She knelt down in front of the hovering Cheese.

"Cheese, are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Chao!"

Cream raised an eyebrow and asked another question. "Cheese, what's my name?"

"Chao!"

With this response, Cream began to worry. Even though Cheese could not really talk, he would always manage to at least say "Tream" in response to that question. She immediately snatched the chao out of the air. It was only then that she noticed the soft vibration it was giving out. She perked her hearing and listened extra hard. When she did this, she could make out the soft whirring coming from inside the chao.

She promptly turned the chao over and, noticing a cover on its back, removed it. Inside was a battery. Horrified, Cream flung the chao to the ground and let a scream escape her throat.

"Cream! Cream are you alright?" Amy said as she rushed into the closet. She ran to the sobbing mess on the floor and wrapped her arms around it. "What is it? What happened? Are you hurt? Talk to me!" Amy said, trying to keep herself composed.

"Ch-Cheese!" Cream sobbed out, her shoulders heaving. She felt sick. She had never been so scared in her whole life.

"What about him?"

"He's...he's...he's..."

"He's what Cream? You have to calm down and talk to me!"

Cream took a deep breath, then another, then another. Soon she was composed only enough to tell Amy what was wrong.

"I-I came in here t-to check on Ch-Ch-Ch-Cheese, but when I-I got here, he w-was g-g-g-gone!" Cream returned to her uncontrollable sobbing. Her stomach hurt from all the crying.

"I'm calling the police," Amy said as she began to leave the closet.

"No!" Cream protested, weakly trying in vein to stand. "I-I want you to c-call Tails."

"But, Cream..."

"Just do it!" Cream yelled, the tears streaming, and returned to her sobbing.

Amy looked hurt and frightened, at the same time. But, she obeyed. She quickly made her way downstairs and to the phone. She picked up and quickly dialed Team Sonic.

"Hello?" It was Sonic. (A/N: A little SonAmyness goes a long way.)

"Hi Sonic!" she said, instantly better.

"Oh, no. Hi Amy," Sonic stated flatly.

"How are you?" It's pretty clear that Amy has forgotten why she called.

"I'm fine. Look, is there something you want, because if not, I gotta..."

"No wait! I called to ask you something."

"What?"

"Umm... Gimme a minute...Oh yeah! Cheese is missing."

"He is? That's terrible."

"You're telling me. Cream's upstairs right now, crying her eyes out. She wanted me to call Tails."

"Tails? That's weird. I wonder why."

"Me, too. Look, is he home?"

"Yeah, but last I saw him, he was busy in his lab."

"Ok, well could you tell him to get over here A.S.A.P.? Cream really wants to talk to him."

"Okay, I will."

"Thanks, Sonikku."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

Amy hung up and went back upstairs to check on Cream. When she got there, she was in the bed, and fast asleep.

* * *

_**Did you like it? Did you cry? I so, please tell me in a review. Thanks for reading. Don't forget to leave your warm regards in a review. **_


	8. Coping With New Emotions

_HALLA-FRICKIN-LUJAH! I am sooooooooo sorry it took so long. Do you guys hate me? I hope not, cause this chapter was well worth waiting for. It comsumed 3 straight weeks of my life, but it was worth it. This chapter is my baby, and Ihope you enjoy! Don't forget to review, and please don't hate me. You'll love it. I promise!_

_Warning: This is the chapter that contains the Tails/Cream-ness. Nothing X-rated. But it's cute._

**

* * *

**

Chapter 7

**New Emotions**

It had been about 45 minutes since Amy had called Team Sonic. She began to wonder if they would come. She couldn't do this to herself. All this worrying was unhealthy. She began to busy herself with the dishes.

Cream had awakened once since the call, only to use the bathroom. The look in her eyes was so distant and cold. It chilled Amy to the bone.

But she was asleep again.

Amy just couldn't get that look out her head. Cream looked hurt and confused and angry and scared, all in those two brown eyes. Amy wasn't used to seeing Cream like this. She was always the happy one, always looking on the bright-side, always so genuine and sweet, always so concerned and trying to make others happy. But this was a totally different Cream. It was frightening...

Then finally, after what seemed like and eternity, the doorbell rang. Amy dropped the plate she had been washing-for the past five minutes-into the warm, soapy water, and ran to the door. Upon flinging it open, she threw her arms around Sonic's neck.

"Sonic! What took you so long? I thought you forgot about me."

"Trust me, Amy," Sonic said, finally prying from her grip, "you're pretty unforgettable."

Knuckles snickered in the background. "So what's the big emergency?" He asked as all three went inside.

"Well, Cheese is missing and Cream went postal. Speaking of that, where's Tails?"

"He was parking the Tornado," Sonic said. "He'll be here in a minute."

As if on cue, the doorbell chose that exact moment to ring. Amy bounded from her place on the couch and to the door, only to meet with a tall, orange fox wearing a black backwards baseball cap with three orange bangs sticking through, a pair of black denim shorts, black sneakers,and white gloves.

"Who are you?" Amy questioned.

"It's me, Amy, _Tails_!" The fox said in a slightly squeaky voice.

"What! Tails! Oh my gosh! What happened to you?"

"The same thing that happened to Cream. I did the experiment on myself and low-and-behold, I picked the age where my voice was gonna change." Tails walked inside as Amy closed the door, cleared his throat, and continued. "I was about to try for 15, but then Sonic told me about Cream and I didn't worry about it. Speaking of Cream, where is she?"

"Last I saw of her, she was sound asleep after all but crying her eyes out. I'll go wake her up."

"Don't worry about it," Tails said. "I'll do it."

"Watch out, Tails," Amy warned. "Cream's emotional and on the war path."

"I'll be careful." And with that, Tails disappeared up the stairs.

He came to Cream's bedroom door and noticed there was a crack in it. He peeked in to see if she was still asleep. She wasn't. She was sitting on her bed, the robo-chao in front of her and a screwdriver in her hand. She began to fiddle with the chao.

Tails found it kind of cute how awkward she was with a screwdriver. She often dropped it, and was getting quickly frustrated. After a few more seconds, she gave up and let the chao and screwdriver fall to the floor. Her ears fell limp and Tails took this as his signal to stop staring and enter.

"What's such a long face doing on such a pretty girl?" He said as he entered the room casually. He picked the chao and screwdriver up from their place on the floor, sat down next to Cream, and began to unscrew the back panel.

"Who the heck are you!" Cream exclaimed scooting away from the stranger.

"You mean you don't recognize me?" Tails said through his work.

"Umm...no. Should I?"

"Well, that depends. How many two-tailed foxes do you know?" At that moment Tails swished his namesakes from behind him and let them fall into his lap.

Cream's eyes grew wide in shock, and some of the brightness returned.

"Tails!" She exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck, mimicking Amy's earlier actions. This caused Tails to drop the chao and screwdriver back to their original place on the floor. "You...you did the experiment on yourself?"

"Yeah. How do you like it?"

"I love it! I mean..." Cream blushed a light red, and so did Tails. Neither knew what to say next. "Um, I meant it's nice. Do you feel any different?"

"Other than the fact that my voice changes every two sentences, no, I feel basically the same." (A/N: His voice doesn't literally change like that. Just an expression.)

"Yeah, me too. Say, what's with the clothes?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I got hot earlier. What's your excuse?" Cream said in a teasing tone. Tails was happy to see her like this again. After what Sonic had told him, he was scared that she'd be sad forever.

"I didn't look right without 'em." Tails said placing his hands on his hips and copying Cream's earlier tone. Both chuckled softly. Then there was silence. Both sat quietly. Cream played with her fingers and Tails smoothed and brushed his tails.

But Tails found his voice first. "So...I heard about Cheese."

This statement apparently brought back a lot of unwanted emotions. Cream's eyes went a shade darker, herears flattened, and seeing her reaction, Tails' followed suit.

"Geez, I'm sorry Cream," Tails said as he saw tears well up in Creams eyes. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Silence.

Cream wiped the tears from her face and tried to return to being happy. It didn't work. Tears started to fall freely as Cream's breathing became jagged. Tails felt terrible. He slid closer to the sobbing Cream and pulled her into an embrace. She rested her head on his shoulder as he stroked her back.

'_It's so hard to cry in his arms,'_ She found herself thinking.

They stayed like that for a good five minutes. ThenCream sniffled and sat up.

"Thank you," She said to Tails.

"For what, making you cry?"

"No. For being there when I _did_ cry." Cream then placed a swift kiss on Tails' check, before she or Tails knew it. They both began to blush furiously.

"Um...well...um...thanks. I...um..." Tails began with good intentions, but the words never came out right. Cream giggled at his attempt, still slightly flustered herself. He decided to give it one more shot.

He cleared his throat. "Cream, you need to try to relax. All this worrying is unhealthy."

"How can I Tails? When I don't know where Cheese is or if he's alright."

"I can think of one good way." Tails then placed his hands on Cream's shoulders, and began to massage them. Cream let out a soft moan, half from surprise, and half from how good it felt. This didn't really help her flusteredness.

Yeah, she was tense alright. Who could blame her? But Tails was definitely working on it. His hands moved expertly over her tight shoulder muscles, gently forcing them to loosen under his touch.

Tails mentally smiled. He hadn't done this in such a long time; he thought he had lost his touch. But apparently, he was doing just fine.

He continued to massage her as long as she would let him. When he finally felt that she was loose enough-and when his hands started to cramp-he stopped. Cream looked a little disappointed, but still very pleased and relaxed.

"Wow," was the first thing that came out of her mouth. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Well, when you live with 2 super stressed, super heroes, you gotta learn these things."

"That was wonderful. I feel a lot better. Thanks Tails."

"No problem."

"Any way I can repay you?"

"None that I can think of at the minute." Tails got up as if to leave.

"I can think of one good way," Cream said under her breath. She got up and made her way in front of him. She then gathered all her courage, and kissed Tails, right on the lips. And since he was a few inches taller that her, she had to stand on her tip-toes to do so, but she did it. Tails' eyes grew aswide as dinner plates. Both blushed magnificently.

It was only supposed to last a couple of seconds, but when Cream tried to pull away, Tails wasn't having it. He wrapped his tails around her, and gently pushed her against his body. Both blushed redder than Knuckles as Cream cast her gaze downwards, a slight smile on her face.

She had never been this close to a boy; at least not on purpose. Cream looked up in time to see that Tails was leaning closer to her. Her heart immediately skipped a beat as she realized where this was going.

As if being pushed by some unseen force, she began to inch closer to meet him. Closer...and closer they inched until...

SLAM!

"Hey, Big Guy, Amy sent me up here to see if Cream's... al...right...," Sonic said slowly. He was staring slightly open-mouthed at Tails who now stood a good 3 feet from Cream.

At the sound of the door slamming, the two had instantly parted, but Sonic had caught a glimpse of them together. He knew what was going on, and he couldn't wait to rub it in. It's not that Sonic wanted to hurt Tails; he just thought that he would have to wait another 5 years to tease his little brother about girls.

Cream was now twiddling her fingers, and Tails was deeply fascinated with imaginary specks of dust on his immaculate gloves. Sonic took another step in, thinking of the best way to play with their heads.

"Soooo..." He said casually, "everything ok?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Both answered simultaneously without looking up from their various tasks.

"Good, good." The three stood silently in the room for a minute. Tails and Cream exchanged a quick glance and immediately faced back to their hands, a light blush grazing their faces. Sonic was loving every second of this.

'_This is a Kodak moment,'_ He thought. He was getting bored after another minute of standing around, and decided to blurt out something random, just to arouse the tension.

"So...," Sonic began with adevilish smirk, "I see you'd like a little more cream with your coffee," gesturing the dumbstruck Tails.

"No, I...uh...I mean, there's noth..ing, that is...we weren't..."

"Oh, I saw what you _weren't_. You _weren't _standing in the middle of Cream's room with your tails wrapped around her, and you _weren't_ moving in for the kiss!"

Cream stood wordless by the nightstand, still blushing as she watched the two argue. At this point, Sonic's vocabulary was a little more advanced than Tails'.

"And _you_ young lady!" Sonic said, suddenly turning an accusing finger on her. She jumped slightly. "_You_ weren't moving in sync with him, and you _weren't_ going in for the lip-lock of your life!"

Cream cast her gaze downwards feeling guilty, but not knowing the reason.

"See...I...that is...that we...," She began, fruitlessly trying to shape a sentence.

Sonic was trying his best to look stern, but the looks on their faces were priceless. Tails stood by the door, still dumbstruck and blushing; thanks to Sonic'slittle coffee/cream comment. Cream still twiddled her fingers standing by the nightstand. It was as if neither could move. Sonic couldn't take it anymore. He burst into an abrupt wave of hysterical laughter.

"W-What's so funny?" Cream asked.

"Y-Y-You!" Sonic said from his new position on the floor. "You should've seen your faces when I started accusing you. One word: priceless!" Sonic continued his laughter as everything started to come together for Cream and Tails. He had seen them together and done all that stuff to mess with their heads. Both breathed a sigh of relief. They thought Sonic had really been angry, but he was only kidding.

"Well look," Sonic said, making his way from the floor, "I see you've got things under control, Big Guy, so I'll go tell Amy everything's fine."

"Ok," Tails said, and Sonic was gone.

As soon as he left, Tails and Cream both plopped down on Cream's bed; both then burst into their own wave of laughter.

"I-It must be a constant adventure living with Sonic," Cream said as she turned onto her side to face Tails.

"Yeah. M-More fun than a barrel of monkeys," Tails said also turning to face Cream. Both continued to laugh, but as the laughter died down, things got a little ill at ease. Tails stared at Cream, and Cream returned the stare.

"Y'know," Tails said suddenly, "you have really beautiful eyes..."

The sudden statement shocked Cream slightly. She once more began to lightly blush.

"Um...thanks."

Both stayed silent for another minute or so, before Tails remembered the entire reason that he had come over.

"Oh, snap!" He said upon this realization. "We completely forgot about Cheese!"

"Oh, my goodness, you're right!" Cream said as she leapt to her feet. She dashed out of her room and down the stairs. Tails grabbed the robot chao off the floor and proceeded to follow Cream. Cream slipped on a pair of red flip-flops at the door, and darted for the Tornado, managing a "Hi guys. Bye guys!" before leaving. Tails soon followed, robo-chao in hand, copying Cream's exact words.

"I wonder where those two are off to in such a hurry," Amy questioned, turning to Sonic.

"Probably going to the Point," Sonic said with a chuckle.

"What!" Amy and Knuckles said simultaneously.

"Calm down. Nothing serious. Those two just look like they have a slight crush on each other."

"How can you tell?" Amy asked.

"Well Amy, usually when two people are about to kiss, it gives off that general message." Sonic lay back and put his hands behind his head.

"THEY DID WHAT! THEY KISSED? REALLY!"

"Well, almost. I just so happened to walk in. You should have seen it, Knux, you would've loved it. Their faces were priceless."

Knuckles just remained in his same laid back position, a narrow grin on his face.

"Personally, I think both of them are too young for such things. The only thing love does is leave both of you hurt in the end."

"Sounds like Knuckles has had his fair share of heart-aches in the day," Amy said. Knuckles just sat with his grin fading, as if he had just remembered something he was trying hard to forget.

"Sorry, Knuckles. Was it something I said?"

"...No. I'm fine." Knuckles rose from his seat. "I gotta go. I'll see you at home Sonic." And he was gone. Sonic knew he wasn't going straight home, but had other things on his mind right now.

"What's his problem?" Amy said.

"Good question. Better one: Wanna go follow Tails and Cream?" That sly grin that Amy loved was back.

"Sonic, no! Leave those two alone. They're just going to do some research on who took Cheese. I trust them and I..." Suddenly Amy was cut off by a loud boom and a large gust of wind. She looked out the door and could barely make out a retreating blue figure engulfed in a cloud of dust. "How rude, Sonic Hedgehog!"

* * *

Tails and Cream entered Team Sonic's house and made their way to the basement. Tails was still clutching the chao, and Cream was unusually close to him as they decended the dark stairs.

"Now," Tails began as he flipped on a light, "I've got this invention that'll run the chao through an analyzing process. It's gonna scan it and identify all the fingerprints on it. This'll take about 3 hours, but..." Tails was suddenly cut off by a high-pitched shriek and a thud. He immediately turned to see that Cream had slipped and fallen in an oil-spill.

He rushed to her side and began to bombard her with questions. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Is anything broken?" He asked as he knelt by her side.

"Aside from a sore tail and ruined shorts, I'm fine."

"Good. Let me help you up." Tails then stood and grabbed Cream's hand. He pulled her arm, and not realizing his own strength, forcefully yanked her to her feet; so forceful in fact, that Cream fell forward and collided with Tails.

Not ready for such an impact, Tails stumbled backwards and fell onto a table, with Cream landing on top of him. (A/N: Good thing it was Cream. If it had been Big... O.O) Tails got a little wind knocked out of him, but quickly recovered, at least enough to notice the fact that there was a _girl_ lying on top of him. Both immediately became very, _very_flustered.

Only then did Tails notice how truly beautiful her eyes were, and how soft her fur was. Same goes for Cream.

They both lay there like that for awhile, oblivious to the fact that a certain blue hedgehog had snuck in on them a few minutes prior. He had been watching silently from the staircase.

'_Aww...Isn't that cute...'_ He thought. Upon closer study, he noticed that the two seemed to be moving closer...closer...closer... Would they really kiss this time, or would they come to their senses and jump away from each other like before? The suspense was murder! Now Sonic remembered why he hated waiting.

But finally all questions were answered as their lips met in a shy, but powerful kiss and a blush washed both of their cheeks. This one kiss seemed to say everything that they had been too shy to say themselves. Sonic could even swear he saw a spark.

He got more interested after a while, when it didn't look like they were going to stop. As far as he could tell from the stairs, it was a closed-mouth kiss, but as Tails began to wrap his tails around Cream's slender waist, Sonic became wary.

Cream wrapped her arms around Tails' neck and Tails slipped his arms under Cream's. It was pretty clear that each had forgotten their reason for coming here, and that all shyness had been thrown out of the window, at least for now.

'_As soon as they realize what they're doing, it'll be all walking on pins and needles around each other again.'_

And Sonic was right. Both broke the kiss for air, and upon doing so, they realized what they had been doing. Cream untwined herself quickly. Sheleapt from atop Tails' body and turned to face in the opposite direction. She cupped her face in her hands and could feel the heat the kiss had brought to it.

Tails got up, and after recovering from his own shock, walked around in front of her. He put a finger under her chin and lifted it so that they were looking into each other's eyes again.

'_Way to go, Big Guy,'_ Sonic thought at Tails' initiative.

"What's wrong?" He said staring into Cream's eyes.

"I don't know." Cream cast her eyes to the floor, trying to think of a way to explain these feelings she was having. "It's just... When I'm with you it just feels so right. And... I don't know what I want anymore.

"When you come around I get happy, and shy, and I just always feel good. But when you leave it's kind of a relief 'cause the shyness is gone, but I'm also kinda sad because you're gone with it. I just... I don't know."

"Well, how did you feel when we...um...y'know?"

"I felt... complete. I mean, all week I've been feeling all these different emotions, and when we...kissed, it felt like the world stop and along with it, so did the emotional roller-coaster."

Tails suddenly looked over his shoulder. "You ever get the feeling that you're being watched?" Sonic jumped slightly.

"At times... but that's not the point right now," Cream said. He breathed a sigh of relief. "The point is I need closure."

"On what?"

"Well, usually, when a boy and girl kiss," a blush instantly washed both of their faces at the word, "they become...well..."

"B-Boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Yeah. So, what are we?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind having a... girlfriend."

"And I wouldn't mind having a... boyfriend."

"So... would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Cream's heart missed a beat and she began to blush deeper. And it wasn't helping that Tails was putting his arms around her.

Poor Sonic was doing all he could not to laugh out loud. For some reason, he found this awkwardness too funny.

Cream looked up and Tails' eyes were shining, waiting for the answer. There was not doubt in her mind that she liked Tails...a lot...a _whole_ lot, but was she ready for a boyfriend? Well...what would it hurt to have one?

"Um... I... I'd l-love to be your g-girlfriend." And that was that. Tails bent down and kissed Cream's lips lightly.

"Well... um... I kinda need a shower." Cream stated remembering the impromptu meeting with Mr. Oil-slick.

"Oh, sure. The bathroom's upstairs, down the first hall, second door on the left."

"Ok. But, I need some clothes."

"I'll get you some. I'm sure Sonic and Knuckles won't mind if you borrow a couple of things from them. After all, they don't wear them. At least not to my knowledge..."

"Ok. Thanks."

"No prob. I'll sit them in my room on the bed. You can get dressed in there and come back downstairs when you finish."

"Alright." Cream then proceeded to make her way up the stairs.

Sonic had long-since vanished, and was now sitting on the couch flipping through channels. Cream jumped slightly when she saw him.

"Oh! Mr. Sonic, you scared me."

"Well, it's just me, good ole Sonic. You seen Tails?"

"Yeah, he's downstairs in his lab."

"Thanks. Hey, where're you going?"

"To take a shower. I had a little accident in the lab."

"Well, do you have some clothes?"

"Tails said he would find me some."

"Oh, alright. Have a nice shower."

"I will. Thanks Mr. Sonic." Cream then went up the stairs and, following Tails' directions, found the bathroom with no trouble.

Walking in the first thing she noticed was the size. It was a relatively large bathroom and it wasn't bad looking either. So Cream walked over to the shower and turned the water on. As steam filled the room, she began to undress. After completely stripping she stepped into the hot water and let it all run through her fur.

Soon enough, she was clean and ready to get out. She turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the rack. This was really unnecessary, because she just ended up shaking herself dry. She immediately turned into a huge orange and yellow puffball.

She wiped the steam from a small spot in the mirror and got a good look at herself. Horrified at the image staring back at her, she grabbed a brush that was sitting on the counter. Noticing small orange pieces of fur, she guessed it was Tails' brush. She used it to smooth down her fur, and when she was once again smooth and soft, she wrapped the towel around her body and left the bathroom.

Tails made his way upstairs after just starting the analyzing process. He was surprised to see Sonic because he had not heard him come in.

"Hey Sonic," he greeted plopping down on the couch next to his friend.

"Hey Tails. How you been?"

"Fine." Tails arched an eyebrow. The last time Sonic had started a conversation like this, he had made his little coffee/cream joke. Tails would have to play this one safe.

" Good, good... Tails, we're good friends right?"

"Right."

"And we can tell each other anything, right?"

"Right."

"And you'd tell me if there was something going on with you and Cream, right?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Nothing. Can't a hedgehog just ask a simple question without being suspected of getting at something?"

"Look, Sonic, I'm fine. Are _you_ ok?"

"I'm fine. It's just a lot has happened this week. I just wanna make sure you're feeling ok."

At that, Cream began to descend the stairs. To Tails everything was now in slow motion, and there was no one there but her and him. She was wearing the outfit he had put out for her: a pair of blue jeans and a red t-shirt. Being that these were boys' clothes, the pants fit loose and baggy, but they gave her a cute, messy kind of look, while the shirt fit almost flawlessly and helped to reveal her feminine shape. Her bangs were combed down over her left eye, and her fur was very shiny and smooth-looking.

Tails suddenly had this incredible urge to touch her, and started to blush at the thought. Sonic noticed this and arched an eyebrow in his general direction. Seeing the far-off look in his friend's eyes, he snapped a finger in front of his face.

"I said how do I look?" Cream repeated, clearly for Tails' benefit.

"Oh. It... um looks great."

All Sonic could do was look upon the scene and shudder. Hadn't _any_ of his cool demeanor rubbed off on Tails? Oh, well. He couldn't take the awkward silence and shy glances anymore. Cream stood at her place at the bottom of the stairs, and Tails still sat on the couch next to Sonic. Both were once again twiddling their fingers.

'_Gosh, this is boring.'_ He thought as the two 14-year-olds shifted around him.

"Well," He said finally breaking the killing silence, "I got stuff to do. I'll see you guys later," he said as he walked away from the door.

"Ok. Bye." Was the unison, monotoneresponse he received, neither ever looking away from their hands.

Sonic looked at them one last time and shook his head slowly in shame. Both breathed a slight sigh of relief as the pressure left with Sonic. Cream made her way to the couch and sat next to Tails. Tails seemed to find his voice first among the two.

"Y-You look nice in those clothes," He stated, still looking at his hands.

"Thanks. I'm surprised they fit so well... y'know since Sonic and Knuckles are both bigger than me."

"Yeah..." Both of them chuckled nervously.

"Y'know," Tails began, "that process isn't gonna be over for a good 3 hours. You wanna go do something?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know; go to the mall, the park, something."

"Ooh, the mall!" Cream squealed. She then felt instantly embarrassed and flushed red. "Sorry. That must have sounded so dorky."

"No, no. It was cute."

Silence...again...

"So, um...you ready to go?" Tails said.

"Yeah, sure." And both got up and left, headed for the mall, and more fun.

* * *

_YAY! Another chapter done! Wow that was long. Hope you enjoted all the awkward teenage goodness!And is it me, or does it seem like Tails and Cream have kinda sorta forgotten about Cheese? Oh well. Next chapter will be up later...much later. I need a break. But send those reviews in and I might write faster. Like I said, this chapter comsumed a full 3 weeks of my life. Anyway, send those reviews!_


	9. Enter Team Dark

_**Wow...** Is it me, or has it been like FOREVER since I last updated this story? Do you guys hate me? PLEASE DON'T! I mean, you have every right to hate me for making you wait soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long for an update, but please, please, PLEASE don't hate me! I've really been trying. My computer has a virus and I haven't been able to get on for the past two weeks. Anyway, I've kept you waiting long enough, so here's your chapter. Pleae enjoy and don't forget to review._

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8**

**Enter Team Dark**

Shadow sat quietly in his room. It was dark and he was thinking. _"This Machine"_ was playing in the background and his head bobbed slightly to the rhythm.

'_I wonder what Robotnik wants with that chao. Speaking of which, where is that thing?'_

Shadow opened his eyes to peer into the darkness of his room. He couldn't remember seeing the chao since they had brought it home. Maybe it was with Rouge. He reached his hand up to turn his stereo up and closed his eyes again. He was beginning to drift into sleep until he heard the faint sound of his door being opened. He arched an eyebrow in the direction of the door from his bed.

"Rouge, that you?"

A faint fluttering sound could be heard coming toward him.

"What is it? I'm kind of busy."

The sound only got closer.

"Rouge, if you don't want anything, than leave."

The fluttering stopped abruptly. Shadow reached toward the light switch, clearly becoming annoyed with Rouge's silence. He was even beginning to question if it was Rouge. He was automatically on the defensive and ready to strike at a split second. He flipped the switch and...

"CHAO!"

"AAHHH!" He fell right off his bed in utter surprise, legs tangled in his sheet, and in the cutest, most helpless looking position any Shadow fan-girl can imagine. (A/N: If you're wondering, yes, I am a Shadow lover and I am imagining him in this position right this second). He propped himself up on his elbows and stared at his attacker. It was that chao! He had been scared off of his bed by a chao! He was furious at himself and got up immediately, only to fall forward on his bed. He sweatdropped in anger.

Cheese landed on Shadow's back and began to chew on one of his quills. Shadow abruptly stood up, sending Cheese flying, but all he did was hover to a stop.

Once Shadow had himself untangled, he turned off his music and walked out of the room. Unbeknown to him, Cheese had latched onto his quill again and was chewing away.

Shadow walked into the living room where Rouge was sitting on the chair reading a _Seventeen_ magazine, and Omega was plugged into the wall, recharging.

"Hey, Shadow," Rouge said from behind her magazine. "You ok? I thought I heard you scream." She lowered the magazine.

"You did. I'm fine, I just fell," Shadow said, monotonously.

"Oh. Ok. Have you seen the chao? Eggman said he was coming by to pick it up tomorrow."

"Tomorrow! Well why did he have us go through all the trouble of getting it so early?"

"Good question. Maybe his memory is starting to go. He's not exactly a spring chicken, y'know." Rouge went back to her magazine as Shadow sat next to her on the couch.

As he sat back to try to get his nap, both Rouge and Shadow heard a slight squeak. He sat up and tried again. The same squeak came.

"What was that?" He asked.

"I don't' know. Are you sitting on a loose spring?"

"I don't think so." Shadow sat up and Rouge looked behind his back.

"Oh! I think I found the 'spring'," She said. She then pulled Cheese off of Shadow's quill and showed him to Shadow.

"You!" Shadow growled and grabbed for Cheese, but Rouge pulled him away.

"Shadow, don't you dare! He's just a defenseless chao," Rouge said as she hugged Cheese to her chest protectively, inadvertently suffocating the small thing somewhat. (A/N: What's this? Rouge has a motherly side! OMG! Lol.)

"Why do you insist on protecting that thing when we could air-mail it to Robotnik right now?"

"Oh c'mon, Shadow. It's cute," Rouge said holding Cheese at arms length, "and I'm sure he wouldn't hurt a fly; I actually kind of hate to give him to Eggman."

Cheese just looked at Rouge with a look that told the world that he was totally oblivious to what was happening.

"Do you know what he wants it for?" Shadow prodded.

"I know just as much as you do: which is nothing," Rouge said as she put Cheese on the floor. He then began to wonder around and, upon coming to Shadow's shoe, found it very interesting. He began to sniff it, much to Shadow's discomfort.

"What is it doing?" He asked.

"I don't know," Rouge said from behind her magazine once again. "He can't hurt anything. Those shoes are practically indestructible."

"I know. It's just... weird."

"What is?"

"I mean, he's like a baby human."

"You don't like babies?"

"I didn't say that. It's just that a baby human can be very annoying."

"How so?" Rouge asked as she put she magazine down.

"Well for one thing, all they do is cry. They cry when they're hungry, when they're thirsty..."

"Because that's all they know how to do! And they're curious. That's why they wander around so much and get into so many things."

"I still don't like them."

"Well, Shadow, babies are harmless and defenseless. They can't hurt anything, and neither can this chao. Now, hush-up and feed it. Eggman's coming in the morning, and I don't want him dead from malnourishment."

Shadow sat staring at the chao as Rouge got up and left the room.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me," He said to Cheese who bounced around his feet joyously. "Alright..." He sighed. "I'll feed you."

Both of them left and went towards the kitchen.

* * *

_I know...kind of short for such a long wait. Like I said, please don't hate me and give me a little time. I'm a little dusty on this fic, but I'm going to update myself and try to have another chapter in the works ASAP. Thanks for bring so faithful! Love you all! And don't forget to review!_


	10. The Culprits Revealed

_Alright, here's another update for you. I hope you enjoy!_

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 9**

**The Culprits Revealed**

The door to Team Sonic's house opened and in stepped Cream, half-supporting a near-unconscious Tails. She helped her new boyfriend over to the sofa and sat him down.

"Tails... I'm so sorry. I really am," Cream said, apologizing for the umpteenth time since the incident.

You see, after shopping for about 2 hours, Tails decided that maybe it was time to get going. The reason being that he believed the DNA decoding process might be finished by now, that he was broke from spending so much money on Cream, or maybe both.

So upon leaving, Cream became so cutely fascinated with the revolving door, proving that _all_ of her child-like habits had not disappeared with the experiment. She began to run around inside of the door, causing it to rotate rapidly. She then encouraged Tails to try to jump in. He was reluctant at first, but her cute giggling finally swayed him to try. He was just one step away, when he tripped on his untied shoelace and fell toward the door, promptly knocking himself in the head.

When Cream saw this, she immediately stopped her actions and went to the aid of her downed boyfriend. She helped him up, into the Tornado, and she drove home...

Cream helped Tails lay down on the couch and removed his hand from his forehead. She kneeled beside him, removed his hat, and pushed aside his bangs to reveal a reddish-purple bump beginning to form through his fur.

"Ouch... that must really hurt," Cream said as she gently stroked it with her hand. "I really am sorry Tails." She looked down and began to wring her hands.

"Don't worry about it," Tails grunted as he pushed himself up. "It's just a little bump. No major harm done, so please stop apologizing." Tails lifted her face so that they were looking at each other.

"Ok. I'm still..." Cream began to apologize again, but before she could finish, Tails caught her lips in a kiss. It was nothing serious, just something to stun her into silence for a minute, a butterfly kiss of sorts.

"I told you," began the fox gently as he broke away, "its ok; just a little bump. Now, why don't we go and check on the machine?" Tails got up and offered his hand to the faintly blushing Cream. She took it and once she got up, they both went down to the lab.

They walked hand-in-hand down to the lab and when they got there, Cream took a seat on a workbench while Tails went to pick up a stack of papers that looked like they had been spit out of the machine he was fooling with before they left. Upon examining the papers, he began to make a lot of interested "Oohs" and "Ahhs". Cream wasn't sure what he was talking about, but from the look on his face she could tell that Tails had identified the thief.

"So Tails, what does it say?"

"Well, the good news is that we know who took Cheese. The bad news is that it's not going to be as easy as I thought to get him back," Tails said scratching the back of his head, walking to the workbench Cream was sitting on, and handing her the papers. She thumbed through them and made some of the same interested sounds that Tails had made.

Most of the papers contained figures and equations that Cream had never seen before. She just made the noises to make it seem like she could keep up with all of this. But the last page was very lucid and straight out. On the last page were the names of the culprits and their pictures.

Cream gasped when she saw none other than the faces of Team Dark staring up at her from the sheet of paper.

"Well," She said hopping off of the bench-like table, "we know where to go. Let's go!" Just as she was about to shoot up the stairs, Tails caught her arm.

"Hold up, Cream. We can't just go charging into Team Dark's headquarters without some kind of plan."

Cream kept trying to pull away. "We don't have time for a plan Tails! They could be hurting my Cheese."

"But Cream we..." Tails was cut off in mid-sentence as Cream suddenly snapped her head around and, with tears in her eyes yelled,

"Don't you think I've done my waiting! Cheese could be hurt or worse; he could be..." She was unable to finish, her words caught in her throat behind a sob as she thought of the possibilities that her little chao might not have made it.

She stopped resisting Tails' grip as he pulled her into a tight embrace, rubbing her back and telling her that everything was going to be Ok.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Cream said after a few minutes.

"Did what?" Tails asked as he wiped a tear away from her chocolate colored eye.

"I started crying again. I really do need to work on that."

"Don't worry about it. You have every right in the world to be upset, but rushing into things and thinking on impulse isn't going to get us anywhere."

"I know. I'm just really worried about Cheese."

"I understand," Tails whispered as he hugged Cream tighter. "But if we're going to do this, we're going to do it right. Now I can help, but it may take a little longer than planned. Do you trust me?" Tails, once again, put his finger under Cream's chin and lifted her face, as so to make them eye-level.

"Of course, Tails. I trust you completely." Another hug and a kiss on Cream's forehead, and the two were off to start planning. But not before finding Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy to enlist a little bit of help...

* * *

_Ok, Ok, I know. It was really, really short. Even shorter than the last chapter, but hey look on the bright side: at least this update was a lot faster! Anyway, the next update might take a little longer because a lot of the action and one of the main plot points comes out in the next chapter. So please be patient with me and don't give up hope. R&R if you loved it.  
_


	11. Chapter 11

_Ach! I can feel the hateful stares through the computer!! Plz stop!! Yeah, yeah... I know everyone hates me. Well, here's another chapter (finally) so that should lighten the mood a little. Read and don't forget to review! Oh, yeah. Plz excuse the chapter title mix-up. I'll fix it on the next chapter._

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 10**

**The Plan's Creation**

"I still don't get it," Amy said as the 5 furries sat in Team Rose's living room. Everyone sighed. Tails had explained the plan a good 3 times, and Amy still could not grasp the subject.

"Ok, Amy..." Tails began once again, "We're going to go into Team Dark's headquarters in some sort of disguises. Once we get in, we find Cheese, get him, and get out. IS THAT SO HARD TO GRASP?!"

"No, I get that part; the part I don't get is how we're supposed to get into Team Dark's base."

"THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT!" Tails shouted before he recomposed himself. Cream, who was sitting next to him, patted his hand, trying to soothe him.

"Look, guys," She began, "we know who has Cheese, we know that we need to get him back, the problem is, we can't think of a way to get into the base to get him back."

"Well, Tails already said that we need to get disguises," Sonic said.

"The problem is, what disguises to get?" Knuckles sighed.

Amy suddenly got an overly-happy look on her face that slightly scared the rest of the small group.

"We could dress up like a homeless family!" She blurted out of nowhere, causing all the expressions in the room to melt into surprise and slight confusion. "Aww c'mon! See, I could be the mom, Sonic could be the dad, and Tails and Cream could be the kids!"

"Hey what about me?!" Knuckles asked in slight anger.

"Oh... You could be the hobo that follows us around begging for beer money!"

"..." was his only reply.

Tails was the first one to think about speaking against Amy's obviously horrible idea. After her idea was shot down, with much protest from Amy, other plans were thrown in as the brainstorming continued.

Within the next hour, they had gone through the ideas of a pregnant woman needing shelter to deliver, a policeman searching the premises, a Jehovah's Witness, and a lost traveler. But each of these ideas presented the same problem at the end: how would everyone get into the headquarters at once?

"This is hopeless..." Cream said after a while. "Let's just face it; I'll never see Cheese again." Her ears flattened and her eyes were turned toward the floor.

"Don't say that, Cream. We're all trying our best here," Sonic piped in, trying to be as cheery as possible.

"Yes, and I thank you all."

"Maybe we need a little brain food. I mean, I don't know about the rest of you, but I just can't think on an empty stomach."

"That's Sonic for you," Knuckles chimed in with a slight grin on his face. "Always thinking with his stomach."

"Well, how about I order a pizza?" Amy suggested.

"That's the first good idea you've had all day, Amy," Sonic joked, hopping up to stretch his legs. "Tails and I can run and get it."

"Oh, that's ok, Sonniku. Pizzeria Palace delivers. Thirty minutes or less, or it's free!"

"That's it!!" This shout of joy came from Tails, slightly startling everyone because he had been silent for a while.

"What's it, Big Guy?" Sonic asked.

"We could be a pizza!" This remark only got confused, and slightly frightened, stares from everyone.

"No, you guys don't get it! We could disguise ourselves as a pizza! One of us could be the delivery guy while the others were put inside of a box and brought into the house, by the pizza guy!"

The looks of confusion began to fade as the plan fell into place for the others. Then, out of nowhere, Amy raised her hand like a kid in school.

"Um... Yes, Amy?" Tails called.

"How do we all fit into a pizza box?" Everyone fell, very anime-ish. "What?! That's a good question! We'll never fit into a pizza box!"

Tails got up slowly and helped Cream up. "You just leave all that to me. Amy, I need you to go out, and get me a pizza guy's uniform. Sonic and Knuckles, I need a box--a biiiig box. And a hand-truck; make sure it's sturdy."

"What about me?" Cream asked.

"I want you to stay here while I go to the lab. Call me if you think of something I forgot to mention."

"Hey, Tails," Cream piped quietly as the others darted off to do their various jobs

"Yeah?"

"Your voice isn't cracking anymore."

"Well, what do you know? I guess it isn't... Hehe..."

Cream smiled and kissed her boyfriend on the nose, causing him to blush and her to giggle cutely.

"Um... I should... uh... I..."

Cream giggled a little more and gave Tails a gentle nudge toward the door. "Bye, Tails," she called as he walked away from Team Rose's house.

* * *

_Ok, ok! You've read the madness! Now review plz plz plz!! Love ya all!!_


End file.
